Report Writing FAQs

The Learning Centre • http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au

From the day you walk into university until the day you leave, there are many reports you’ll have to
write. As a student, these reports might be the bane of your life—but the truth is, you’ll have to write
them no matter where you go. From a simple work assessment report to the high-flying technical
write-up, reports are a common form of workplace communication. You may have to write a report to
a ‘client’ or an assessing manager. Report writing is an essential skill for professionals; master it now
and writing reports won’t have to be a pain. Here’s where to start . . .

How do I consider the audience?

As you write, ask yourself:
• Why have they asked for a report?
• What do they need to know?
• How will they use the report?
How do I analyse my task?
Analysing your task is very important. If you haven’t got
a clear picture in your mind of where you want to go,
planning the report is going to be difficult. So, here are
some questions you should ask yourself:

Throughout your study and future career you will write
reports for people who have little or no background in the
area of work your report covers. If this is your audience,
then your report should be easy to understand. Define
terms, offer some background knowledge and use
relevant examples. For example, an environmental
impact statement for a newspaper would be written in a
style that best suits the non-technical reader.
• Do you understand the type of report needed?
(e.g. experimental report, design proposal, etc.)
• Do you know how big your report needs to be?
• Do you know what is required in the report?
⊗ Who is my audience? (e.g. clients, lecturers,
assessors, managers etc.)
⊗ What is the problem/question?

On the other hand, if you are writing a technical report
intended to be read by a team of engineers, you can
assume a level of prior knowledge and use specialised
technical language. Someone expert and knowledgable
in your own field will not necessarily look upon your
work kindly if you write your report with a layperson in
mind.
⊗ What is the aim of the report?
⊗ What key points or issues need addressing?
⊗ What information do you need to collect?
• Now that you’ve got these basic ideas in mind, how
and where will you find the relevant information?

How do I clarify my aim?

The aim of your report should be clear from the type of report needed. In an experimental report the aim is very different
to that of a design report. For example:

Experimental Report Technical Design Report

An experimental report aims to report on: A Technical Design report aims to:
• an experiment or research. • solve a problem or;
• w
hat was achieved during the course of the • recommend a design
experiment.
• w
hat was concluded and how this compares with
previous published results.
What is the Basic Structure of a Report?
Types of reports can vary greatly; they can range from an experimental report to an environmental impact statement.
There is however, a basic structure common to most reports, irrespective of their type.

The Major Components of a General Report

In less than 200 words ... what was the problem, how was it investigated,
what did you find out and what do your findings mean?
• Title Page
A list of the major and minor sections of your report.
• Abstract
Set the scene; give some background information about the topic. State
• Table of Contents the aim/purpose of the investigation. Outline the body sections.

• Introduction Organise the sections in a logical sequence: what you investigated, what
you found, what interpretations and what judgements you made. Use short
• Main Body informative headings and subheadings.
• Conclusion What has been achieved and what is the significance of your findings and
your discussion? Have your aims been successful or not?
• Recommendations
What do you recommend as a course of action following your conclusion?
• References
A list of all the sources you used.
• Appendices
Any information (graphs, charts, tables or other data) you used in your
report but did not include in the body.

Writing Your Report

This section deals with the next step, writing the important sections of your report: the introduction,
conclusion and abstract. They are important because most readers will focus on these sections.

Abstracts, Introductions & Conclusions—what’s the difference?

An abstract is a brief statement which outlines the report in full; what was done, achieved, decided and concluded. The
introduction is a section which states your aims and some required background knowledge. An introduction will also
outline the body of the report (where you state what you will do). Don’t confuse the introduction with the abstract or
summary; they are NOT the same. The common misconception is that one is simply a smaller version of the other (that
the introduction is a rewritten, chopped-up version of the abstract). However, this is not the case.

The Abstract
Most reports need an abstract, but they are generally more important for technical reports or scientific documents.
• An abstract is a succinct passage which provides a brief outline on what was achieved/decided/concluded in your report.
• An abstract is placed on a separate page before the contents page.
• An abstract can be written last so that every bit of necessary detail is taken from the finished report.

Abstract
A trailer rig was used to analyse the properties of an undamped system and experiment Setup/procedure
with a range of instrumentation.
It was found that two modes of vibration exist, these being longitudinal vibration Initial findings
and rotational. The damping ratio and natural frequency were calculated and are
included in this report. The damping was found to be linear.
While the experiment was useful it did not closely resemble road conditions. Actual
road conditions would result in successive bumps and constant vibration while the Conclusions
wheels rotated the whole time.
Finally, it was decided that given cost considerations, the XY plotter provided
Recommendations
accurate results and manageable data.
 • An abstract is one part of a report that will certainly be read by a client/assessor/manager. The rest of the report is
read if more detail is required.
• An abstract is about half a page in length. Sometimes a word limit is given. This can range from 50-300 words.

The Introduction
The aim of an introduction is to state what you have been asked to achieve and list your current course of action.

Introduction Introduction
This document compares a range Machinery and equipment in
of instrumentation of varying industry is heated up and Background
cost and sophistication and Purpose brought on line gradually to
investigates the properties of avoid problems generated by
undamped systems. thermal generated stresses. In
this experiment the severity of Aim; it is not
The natural frequency and damping Aim; part of a stress due to sudden temperature necessary to
ratio of these systems will give changes are examined.
an indication of their behaviour major report. outline everything
when ‘excited’. Requires an in a short or
Furthermore, an analysis of the outline of the introductory
mathematical model as compared
to actual road conditions must
steps you report. Be
be completed and equipment will take. succinct!
suggested for further studies
of the trailer.

The Conclusion
The conclusion (along with the introduction and abstract) is generally the section most read by clients. If you can conclude
your work /findings well, you facilitate your client’s understanding of your work’s significance, your achievements and
whether your aims have been successful or not. Even in the face of failure, e.g. your experiments do not work, a proper
conclusion would demonstrate an understanding of what you achieved. Here is how to do that:
• Note the shortcomings and pitfalls of the methods and/or equipment used
• State your findings from the analysis of your data
• Outline possible recommendations (e.g. provide suggestions for further research).
Recommendations may form a separate heading if substantial.
A Note of Caution:
Do not use your abstract to write your conclusion or vice versa as the reader will believe you have not put enough thought
into why you are doing your work. Remember the abstract, introduction and conclusion have different purposes, different
emphasis and different structures.

Conclusion
The results of the damping coefficient and the natural frequency of the system are Findings & what was
fairly consistent given the small amount of data given and how prone this method is
to error. achieved
In looking at the data provided by the pointer and scale it is surprising that the
results were so consistent. The equipment was difficult to use and read and not really
adequate for this type of testing.
The LVDT transducer provided clear results for the XY plotter and the digital
oscilloscope, both providing graphs that were very clear. I recommend the use of the Recommendations
XY plotter over the digital oscilloscope due to their difference in price ($4000 for
a XY plotter and $7000 for a digital oscilloscope). The XY plotter does not require
the use of a computer and printer to get it into a hard copy form where the data
can be analysed.
How should I present my report?
• READ assignment guidelines in your course outlines. Reading these instructions will inevitably save you hours in
that final effort to finish the report.
• Impress your marker by making it look like a professional report. You can do this easily because many word
processing programs have a report template you can use or adapt.
• Type your report; it makes your work easier to read. Calculations can be done by hand, but adhere to the following
guidelines:
⊗ Rule up your page. Put answers to all your calculations in a right hand column. This stops the reader from
having to search your page for them.
⊗ Double space your work. Don't squash visuals and text together.
• Everything must be geared towards making it easy for your readers. See our brochure on Technical Writing for
additional advice on language and layout of reports.
• Look at past reports. The library has thesis reports (hard copy and online) in the collection. Your school also has
4th year honours thesis reports and Masters and PhD thesis reports.

Remember, keep it simple! Example Conclusions. . .

1. What was the original request? Does your work fulfil the
requirements?
2. What does the audience need/want from your report? Have
you included it?
3. When editing your report, retain what is important/ relevant,
delete what is not.
4. Is there much repetition? Can you merge or delete
sections?
5. Do your conclusions come from your findings and not from
generalisations? (See example opposite).
Three academics are travelling on a train
through Britain. As the train crosses into
Scotland they see a black sheep in a field.
The first academic remarks “Oh look, the
sheep in Scotland are black”.
The second academic replies “No, some
sheep in Scotland are black”.
The third academic declares “There is at
least one sheep in Scotland that is black on
at least one side”.

Need to know more?

IF ALL ELSE FAILS, revisit your original task analysis and TALK TO YOUR ‘CLIENT’ (lecturer, tutor, marker etc.) and
clarify what they want in the report.

Prepared by Prepared by Pam Mort, Johann Idriss, Tracey-Lee Downey & Pradeep Sharma for The Learning Centre, The
University of New South Wales © 2009. This Guide may be distributed for educational purposes and adapted with proper
acknowledgement. Email: learningcentre@unsw.edu.au